More Green For Life!

It has been nine days since beginning my green journey. I can't believe I am actually still doing this! Day five, six, & seven were not as exciting as the couple of days before but I am happy to say that yesterday (day eight) and today (day nine) have been really good. Yesterday I met my friend Cat for lunch at a place called Go Raw Cafe. It was so yummy and the conversation was so nice! Cat has been about 90% raw for a month now and it was inspiring to hear her day to day diet. Before we knew it, we had been sitting there for almost 3 hours and if I didn't hurry, I was going to make my family late for church! I raced home, grabbed my hubby and kids, and made it to church just in time...well, we were about 5 minutes late, but all in all, it was a great day. After church we did NOT have a nice raw meal. Eric treated us to Chipolte and it was really good! It may take me a little time going raw! For now, I am happy with my little green change. :)

Green For Life

About five years ago while researching cancer I came across a book called "Green For Life" by Victoria Boutenko. Recently I read it again. It's basically a book about getting more greens (leafy) and some fruit into your diet. It's a super simple approach and so far I am LOVING it! Right now I am on day four of a 30 day challenge. Why 30 days? I really don't know...it just sounded good! And I figured after a month I should be able to tell if I was feeling better or not. Day one and two I really didn't feel any different. Day three (yesterday) about mid-afternoon, I realized I wasn't tired like I normally am at that time. While doing the dinner dishes I again realized I still felt great! Not tired at all...weird. Today, day four I feel amazing! I had a rather busy day of grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry, & I prepared and delivered a meal for a friend in need. Oh, I also stopped into Heavensent and picked up a new bible for Zachary. Alyssa made dinner, which was nice! but I could have done it no prob. I helped her empty the dishwasher and clean up the dinner dishes and I still feel GREAT! I have a ton of energy!!! My plan is to blog every day or every few days (as we all know my blogging history isn't that great!) about my experience over the next month.

Summer

I have a lot on my mind! So, one would think...why aren't you blogging then?! Well, every time I would pull up my blog I would just stare. Where to begin? How do I put it all down? Do I start with me? My kids? Cancer? I am so annoyed by cancer I could scream! That is probably why I have not blogged. Don't get me wrong, I lead a very full life. However, at night, I research cancer. I have for five years. Pretty sad, huh? Yes and no. I believe I have found an answer...maybe not THE answer, but something that brings me hope. And when dealing with cancer, hope is huge. More on that later. The title of this post is summer so I guess I will break our summer down.

Sadly, it started off with rushing to California to help my mom. It seems her doctor overmedicated her and while watering, she fell. Not just a little tumble, no, she broke her wrist and could do nothing herself! So, off we went. It was a tough month, but very worth it. As the kids and I drove away we knew we had done something big. I will always be greatful for this summer.

We came home, rested up a bit before my mom and grandmother decided to come for a visit. This visit was sooner than we had planned but my aunt needed a break from caring for my grandmother and we were happy to have them. We spent the week shopping for a bed and nightstand for my mom, (she plans on staying here more), scrapbooking, and resting. My mom needs a lot of rest these days. It's hard to watch sometimes. I pray daily that there will be a magic cure for cancer someday, but for now she is juicing and watching her diet (as well as she can), and getting lots of rest. Something fun Eric planned for my grandmother was he took her on a tour of the jail. One of her favorite shows on TV is a program called "Jail." It is a program filmed by the maker of "Cops." He pulled some strings and was able to take her on a tour. She loved it and we loved seeing how happy it made her. She is 86 years old and still so full of life.

Today, my mom and grandmother have been gone one week. I miss them. I am excited to get back into a routine though. Our family is going to take one or two more weeks off and then we will be back to the books! This year we will be studying Creation to Greeks. More on that later! We're very excited!

Mother's Day 2010

I LOVE being a mom!!! I could not ask for, beg for, or pray for for better children. I love them so so so very much.

On Mother's Day this year I was SPOILED rotton. Alyssa made me pancakes and bacon. She even made my coffee and it was perfect! Zachary was extra sweet, hugging me, and cuddling with me as I read. Eric and the kids showered me with gifts. I got a candle , a book I had wanted for a long time, a handmade scarf made by Alyssa, and a beautiful bottle filled with colored sand made by Zachary. I felt so loved and am so truly blessed to be Alyssa and Zachary's mom.

Arkansas 2010

At the end of April we flew back to Arkansas for Ron's funeral. It was so nice seeing Jeanne and Scott, & Cindy too. The funeral was beautiful and went well. Jeanne really wanted the kids to have fun so she planned some fun things. Of course we went to the rock shop! Every time we go the kids ask to go there. It is a cute little shop with a TON of rocks and little knik knacks. They went swimming, running, and bug hunting. Alyssa and Cindy went running each day while I did my bible study. I could not think of a more beautiful setting for me to be in God's word. Here a few pictures from our trip.

April 2010

Only in Vegas can you one day be swimming in warm weather and the next day be sledding in SNOW! I love Las Vegas!!!

April 2010-Easter

Easter this year was bittersweet. We lost Eric's dad the day before. He had been battling with illness for the past few years and on April 3rd he went home to be with Jesus. He will be greatly missed.

Later that night we decided to make ressurection cookies. This was such an awesome experience. We will definitely make this a family tradition! I will blog later on the making of these. Here a few pictures of our Easter.

March 2010

Lots of things happening in March! Zachary learned to ride his bike and take a shower on his own!!! We celebrated St. Patrick's Day with green pasta, played a ton of soccer, and were finally able to open up windows! What a great month!

February 2010

Back in February Eric took Alyssa to Cornerstone's Annual Daddy Daughter Dance. It is something they both really look forward to every year. They enjoy dessert and dancing with a beautiful story called "The Princess Kiss" read to them by Cornerstone's Pastor. While they were there, Zachary and I went on our own little date!

Happy 4th!! 2010

What an amazing day! We spent the day at Desert Shores with our great friends Russell and Annette. The day was perfect. The weather was beautiful! It didn't get higher than 97 degrees and in Las Vegas that is amazing! Lots of swimming, eating, and awesome fellowship! Here are a few pictures from the day.

Happy 4th!

This fourth of July Eric had to work so I was planning on staying home. Last minute I decided to take the kids over to our friends Christina & Val's house. We had such a great time! Tons of food, swimming, and fellowship! The kids were afraid it would be "boring" because Christina's kids were out of town visiting grandma, but it ended up being a really nice night. We could see the fireworks from a few different locations right in their backyard! We are so glad we went & really blessed to have such great friends.

Juicing!

A few months ago my mom was diagnosed with cancer...again. It has really rocked our worlds. Back when she was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2005 I did a ton of research. I found Hallelujah Acrea, an amazing ministry! We started juicing and eating better, but for whatever reason didn't stick with it. So here it is 4 years later that we have decided to really get serious about our health. We now drink carrot juice sometimes mixed with greens every morning & every afternoon. There are many days we drink it 3 or 4 times a day. I have actually grown to really like the this stuff! The kids absolutely love having fresh apple juice. It tastes nothing like the juice we used to buy in the stores. We've made so many positive changes for our health and we're looking forward to each day more and more.

Arkansas!

When it comes to blogging I have been pretty consistent in one thing...waiting a couple of months in between blogging!!! Ugh! God has really been working on me in the area of balance! I tend to throw myself into just a few projects and ignore the rest. I am hoping to fit more blogging time in this year. I have the best of intentions, really!! We've had such a fun summer, however I am looking forward to some structure in our home.

We started our summer off visiting Eric's parents. What a blast! When we got there Scott was there to welcome us with some yummy BBQ. It's so nice to sit down to a home cooked meal with family! I wish they could happen more often. Then the kids were off to the lake. How cool is it to have a lake in your backyard?? The next day Jeanne, Alyssa, and I went to lunch with Bev, one of Jeanne's friends. After lunch we headed to Bev's house where she taught Alyssa and I how to knit. I have to admit, my daughter is better at it than I am! I love the outcome of a beautiful blanket or sweater, but it's HARD! I think I will stick to reading and scrapbooking! Later on Jeanne made Alyssa's favorite...her famous spaghetti. Yum!! The next morning we went out on the boat. It was a beautiful morning. There is just something about being out on the water. It was so peaceful. We had a lot of fun. Later that day we went to the beach. It was HOT! I know I live in the desert but I learned rather quickly that I do not like humidity! I will take the dry heat any day! Of course it was nice seeing all the beautiful greenery everywhere. And about an hour after we got home we were blessed with an awesome rain storm! Jeanne and I grabbed a cup of coffee and went out to their deck and watched it. Another thing about living in the desert is that it rarely rains. So that I loved seeing! I guess there is good and bad anywhere.

The kids loved all the swimming, fishing, and chatting with Grandma and Grandpa. I simply loved having a conversation with Ron and Jeanne in person! Phone calls are just not the same. This trip was short but a much needed one. Next time we will stay longer!

Eagles Homeschool Picnic

Our end of the year picnic was in mid June so the weather was perfect! Each year our homeschool group gets together at Mountain Crest park for a end of the year pot luck. This year was bittersweet because my good friend Beverly wouldn't be at next years picnic. She and her family are moving to Ohio. Alyssa will miss her friend Charis while Zachary will miss his buddy Arden. I am really going to miss Beverly! So we all took advantage of knowing this and stayed well after dark talking while the kids ran wild. Our friend Heather was contemplating moving at this time also, but has decided to stay. Yay!

My first loaf!

I may not look too happy in the picture but I was very proud of the way my first loaf of bread turned out. I was a little nervous at first. I was told that I must follow the directions in exact order! But then figured, what could happen? After simply adding each ingredient, following the directions to a tee, that was pretty much it. As you can see it turned out perfect. It was so good! Too good. Not something to make every night! That could be dangerous!

Mt. Charleston

Mt. Charleston is a beautiful little community about 40 minutes northwest of us. I'd heard about it for years but never made the trip, until a few months ago. We made our first trip back in early April right before the snow melted. Yes...snow in Vegas! My mom was visiting and wanted to see the kids play in the snow so we jumped in the van and off we went. We could not believe our eyes...SNOW IN LAS VEGAS! Snow everywhere. It was so strange, so beautiful! Since it was around lunch time we decided to check out the Lodge first. We had a yummy lunch and then we on our way. On the way out we bumped into Carrot Top. He has a show on the strip and later we found out he comes up there a lot for the privacy. Eric was in his element. He loves nature. He was grabbing flyers on houses for sale and kept saying "I can see us living here". With houses/cabins at about $350,000 we will not be moving anytime soon! Did I mention the houses/cabins were about 1000 square feet? NOT going to happen! We drove around for a few minutes until we found a great little area covered with snow on a pretty steep hill. We didn't think to bring saucers and couldn't find a place to rent one, so...we had to get creative. Eric found tarps, cardboard boxes, and some rope. The kids had so much fun. We had a blast watching their little faces screaming and laughing as Eric pulled them down the hill.

Fast forward two months. My friend Beverly, her five kids, along with me and my two kids went back to Mt. Charleston. It was June 5th and almost 80 degrees. Beverly knew a great little spot by running water and picnic benches. So, I packed up sandwiches, fruit, and juice and headed over to Beverly's house. I spent a few hours at her house going over Sonlight curriculum. After going over it with her for quite some time (thanks Beverly!) I decided that this is the curriculum for us.

After that, we packed up her gigantic SUV and headed out. It was another beautiful day up there. Not quite 60 degrees and so peaceful. The first picnic bench was free so we took out all our food and let the kids so wild. It was too hard for the kids to sit for too long because they would rather be exploring. Almost immediately I told Zachary to PLEASE be careful not to fall in the water. I did not bring an extra pair of shoes or socks and the water was cold. Well, about two minutes later I saw him step right into the water!!! Opps. Luckily he's only five and doesn't care a whole lot about these things. Alyssa and Charis found their own little hide a way away from the boys and were very content just hanging out and talking. Beverly and I got some much needed girl time in too! We will definitely be escaping the heat and heading back very soon.

My alarm clock

Every morning I wake up to what sounds like breaking glass. After about two seconds, I realize it's my wonderful five year old son and his gigantic bucket of legos. Right now he is into making so many different things. He makes anything from buildings to rocket ships to race cars. The older he gets, the smaller the legos get. I am really enjoying watching him use his imagination.

Inspired!

It has been many months since my last entry. Where does the time go? We all have 24 hours in a day, I am no exception to this! I have a few friends who are faithful bloggers and I have really enjoyed reading their blogs lately! What a great way to catch up on the lives of those who are important to me. So, I have been inspired!

Alyssa & Hannah

Alyssa met Hannah in preschool when they were three years old. Almost as soon as they met I knew their friendship was special. They were instantly joined at the hip. Six years later they are still close even though they live in seperate states. When we go to California to visit they start right where they left off. Hannah is a great kid and we miss her terribly.

Heather

I've known Heather for over six years now. We met when our girls entered preschool together. I had only known her for about a month when I found out I was pregnant with Zachary. I hardly knew her and found myself whispering to her that I had just found out I was pregnant. I thought it was so sweet that this "stranger" was so happy for us. She said "congratulations!" and a few months later she gave me a bunch of maternity clothes. She is a great friend and I am so blessed to know her!